Heating
Canary Riverside has electric heating: the cost of using your heating system will be reflected in your electricity bill (unlike the cooling system).
Primary heating of your flat is provided by way of FCUs (fan coil units) which contain electric heating elements. [NB: Some apartments may have had alternative/additional heating systems installed, eg, electric underfloor heating.]
Additional heating sources are:
skirting’ heat emitting panels’ - panels beneath windows that contain electric heating elements.
electric towel rails.
electric underfloor heating in the master bathroom.
Using your FCU heating
The heating works by way of air being blown over heating elements and out through vents located just below ceiling level. The FCUs contain heating elements of between 2kW and 3kW. Some rooms (lounges) may be served by two FCU units and combined kW elements totalling 5kW. You can find the heating element size of your flat’s FCUs in the excel spreadsheet here. Running an FCU with a 3kW heating element will use 3 units (kWh) of electricity per hour.
To operate the FCU heating:
Slide the switch on the Baxi controller to the ‘ON’ position. The green light should come on. If it doesn't, refer to the Hager timer section below.
Set the fan speed to low, medium or high. High provides a boost facility, useful when entering the apartment on a particularly hot or cool day. Medium is the normal operating speed, and low is useful when quiet operation is required
Set the temperature control dial to the right of centre (see photo below).
The heating elements will switch on 1-2 minutes after the fan has been running: this is due to a safety mechanism (a differential pressure switch) which ensures the heating elements only come on if there is sufficient airflow passing over the heating elements. Dirty/blocked FCU filters or a faulty DPS will prevent the heating elements from switching on.
Baxi control unit
A 3kW FCU will use three units of electricity per hour (plus c.70-120 watts to run the fan).
If you have the dial set to a point just past the centre (as in the photo), the heating element(s) will switch off once a temperature of c.21C has been reached. The FCU(s) will continue to circulate air, but it will be at the ambient temperature. Once the Baxi controller senses that the temperature has fallen below 21C, the heating elements will come back on until the desired temperature is reached.
It is advisable to set the Baxi controller just right of centre (per the photo above), so that the heating elements in the FCUs will switch on and off depending on whether the temperature (at the Baxi controller) has reached c.21C. If you set the dial on the Baxi unit all the way round to the far right, the heating element(s) will remain on all the time that the Baxi control is on the 'on' position, regardless of the room temperature. This is an expensive way to run the heating.
More information about the FCUs can be found here.
Skirting heat-emitting panels
Additional heating is provided by way of electrical skirting heat-emitting panels, located under windows and balcony doors within the apartment. All of the panels are controlled by one of your Baxi units - i.e., the skirting panels only come on when that specific Baxi unit is switched on to heating.
The heating elements located behind the panels come on if the ambient temperature is lower than 21C, and automatically switch off until the temperature drops and heating resumes. Each 1m length of panel produces approximately 200w-220w of heating.
Please note that all of your apartment's skirting panels will come on when the relevant Baxi unit is set to heat (and the temperature is below 21C). Each set of skirting panels has its own fuse spur (located close to the panels). See the photo on the left below.
fuse spur found near to skirting heater
switched fuse spur enabling specific heating panesl to be switched off
If you wish to be able to control individual heating panels (eg, so that the panels in a specific room do not come on) this fuse spur can be replaced with a switched version (photo on the right) enabling you to have greater control over which panels come on when the Baxi unit controlling the panels is switched to heat.
Hager timer
A Hager timer unit is located in the electrical distribution box located in a hall cupboard. You can find instructions on how to use the timer here.
NB: If you are manually controlling the heating/cooling via the Baxi controls only, the Hager unit needs to be set to manual override by pressing ‘I’ (on). To prevent accidental use of the heating/cooling system, set the manual override in the ‘O’ (off) position. If the Hager unit is switched to the 'O' position the FCUs will not run - even if the green light is visible on the Baxi unit.
FCU maintenance
It is the resident’s responsibility to maintain their apartment's FCUs, and ensure that the filters are cleaned on a regular basis. You can find more information on FCU maintenance here.
Bathroom heating
Other sources of electric heating in your apartment include bathroom heating: underfloor heating in the master bedroom ensuite, and heated towel rails in all bathrooms.
The under-floor heating control is usually mounted at low level on the wall, either next to the toilet or adjacent to the bathroom entrance.
The electric heated towel rails on/off switch is usually located under the sink unit (master bathroom) or in the mirrored cabinet. Some residents have replaced the on/off switch with a timer switch, to provide better control.